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In a postseason groove, LSU phenom JaCoby Jones is roaring to the finish line of his college career

LSU vs. Oklahoma Super Regional game 2 2013

LSU second baseman JaCoby Jones (23) returns to the dugout as his teammates cheer him on after his 8th-inning home run against Oklahoma on Saturday night at Alex Box Stadium.
(Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

When
JaCoby Jones showed up on campus three years ago, he was pegged by many as the
heir apparent to his teammate at the time, former LSU star Mikie Mahtook. That
comparison seemed fair enough.

Five
potential tools. Built like a football defensive back and fast enough to have
played that spot in high school. The kind of swagger some players understandably
lose in the transition from high school to college.

At
times since then, Jones has tantalized the Tigers, their coaches and the fans
with bouts of inconsistency comingled with flashes of just how good he can be.

Now
it can be said that the Richton, Miss., native has a great sense of timing.

There
wasn't officially a Most Valuable Player tabbed for the LSU Super Regional this
weekend, and Aaron Nola would've provided some serious competition. But there
was nobody more vital to the Tigers' offense in 2-0 and 11-1 victories over
Oklahoma than Jones.

No.
1-ranked LSU (57-9) is bound for the 2013 College World Series after those two
wins, and Jones is a huge reason why after he put the finishing touches on a
two-day stretch he won't ever forget.

During
the day Friday, Jones was drafted by Pittsburgh in the 3rd round of
the Major League Baseball draft.

In
Game 1, he whacked a triple against No. 3 overall pick Jonathan Gray on an
0-and-2 pitch in the 8th inning and scored the game-winning run
after a 7-inning who-blinks-first pitchers' duel.

The
encore? A 4-for-4 night with a double, a home run, three runs scored and an
infusion of energy every time Jones stepped into the batter's box.

"The
fact that he got drafted (Friday) in the 3rd round - he knows where
he's going to be this summer and next year and beyond - I think it took a lot
of pressure of him," LSU Coach Paul Mainieri said.

LSU second baseman JaCoby Jones claps after barreling into second base with a hustle double in the 4th inning, one of his 4 hits.Chris Granger, NOLA.com | Times-Picayune

"You
can see when he plays the way that he played, he's a game-changer with speed,
with his glove with his bat."

With
the 2013 season six weeks old, Jones needed to make some changes. Perhaps not
as drastic as it seemed, but he was struggling with the bat more than any time
since he started playing baseball.

Much
like the weather, Jones' bat came into March like a lion and limped out like an
overwhelmed lamb. In 20 games that month, Jones was 11-for-72 - a frosty .153 -
with only 5 RBIs.

When
March ended with LSU finishing off a sweep at Missouri in 6-5 win, Jones was
0-for-5 and his average tumbled to .188. Except for a slow start here and there
early in the season, Jones had never languished below the .200 level.

Even
that stat was a bit misleading, though. Jones wasn't striking out as much as he
did his few years, and beyond that, nearly every time he made contact, he was
stinging the ball all over the field.

Problem
was when Jones was smoking the ball, it seemed to perpetually find gloves or
foul ground most of the time. Jones has often struggled because he emotionally beats
himself up, and the unfriendly and fickle finger of baseball fate didn't help
matters a whole lot.

"It
was tough, but I trusted my ability and trusted my athleticism and just kept my
head up and kept swinging," Jones said.

"When
I didn't hit, I was just playing defense and trying to help the team win on
defense because it I couldn't do it on offense for that part of the season. Now
I'm coming through and I feel good."

That
bit about coming through -- a major understatement.

Besides
the raw numbers he hung up against Oklahoma, Jones' hustle -- he turned a
routine 4th-inning single into a crowd-energizing double -- and the
emotion he wore on his uniform sleeve were fuel for the Tigers.

His
older teammates, the same guys who served as counselors and mentors when he was
scuffling, were as in awe of Jones as anybody else.

"He
was hitting the loudest .192 in the nation. He was hitting balls harder than
any of us could hit it, and he was getting out.

"When
he's hitting the ball like that, he's doing things that no other player on our
team or probably any other team in the country can do. ... He's a playmaker. When
he gets his chances like that and hits the ball hard, he creates things for our
team that nobody else can."

So
the slump, it couldn't last forever, though, right? Not for a kid who tore up
the Mississippi high school ranks for five years and then showed up at LSU and
batted .338 as a freshman - third on the team behind Mahtook and Raph Rhymes
and a point better than Katz.

It
didn't. When LSU came home to face Kentucky in a showdown of top-10 ranked
foes, Jones' stick suddenly ignited. He was 8-for-13 with 6 RBIs against the
Wildcats and that launched a red-hot April when he batted .434.

Buoyed
by his April re-emergence, Jones is hitting .408 since that last game at
Missouri (40 for 98) with 21 RBIs and 18 runs scored.

"I
always stayed confident in myself and just kept working hard," Jones said.

All
along, big-league scouts were watching. It was common for 10-20 scouts to show
up at LSU games to track Jones, catcher Ty Ross and pitcher Ryan Eades.

LSU junior JaCoby Jones played magnificent defense all season and his bat has heated up at a perfect time.Hilary Scheinuk, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

The
focal point was Jones, though. One look at him is enough for a scout to know,
the 6-foot-3, 200-pound specimen who runs like a gazelle is overflowing with pro
potential.

"He
was constantly under scrutiny the whole year," Mainieri said. "That's a lot to
put on a kid."

Sometimes
the kid in the now 21-year-old Jones surfaced at the wrong times. That caused an
important and cathartic ripple in his season.

During
a series at Alabama in late April, Jones missed the opener because he was sick.
He came back the next night and played every pitch of a 16-inning grinder that
the Tigers won 11-8. But he committed a costly error in the 9th
inning to open the door to a three-run home run that allowed the Crimson Tide
to even the score.

The
next day, he whiffed on another routine ground ball a few innings after he
failed to run out a popup.

Mainieri
yanked him for that game and didn't start him against Tulane a few nights
later. Speaking to the media after that, Jones admitted that those two events
were a wakeup call.

"I
know I have to play hard every time I step on the field," Jones said at the
time.

Whether
it was meant to be an attention-getter or not, Mainieri's ploy worked.

Jones
returned to the starting lineup the next weekend and seemed more focused. His
defense -- as it has been almost every inning of his career -- was top-notch. At
the plate, he roared back from the benching by hitting .450 (18 of 40) in the
next 11 games, .382 in three SEC series.

Then
his season was suddenly halted. Jones injured his left hand when he was moving
a big-screen TV into his apartment and he missed eight games, including the
entire SEC Tournament.

Relegated
to "watching (LSU) play and chewing bubblegum," Jones let his body rest up and
heal and learned a valuable lesson: The Tigers can win without Jones just as
well as they can without him.

That
served as inspiration, but the real jolt might've come when his phone rang early
Friday afternoon and a lifelong dream came true.

Jones
downplayed the impact of being drafted, saying the right thing - that he was
focused on the task at hand this weekend and moving forward.